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United We Read: Hunger Games

September 05, 2012

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins has been selected by the Metro Area Reader’s Roundtable (MARRT) committee of the Mid America Library Alliance as this year’s United We Read title.

This is the first entry into Collins' futuristic, fast-paced, science-fiction series for young adults. The Hunger Games tells the story of 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen who lives in the post-apocalyptic nation of Panem, where the countries that comprise North America once existed. The Capitol, located somewhere in the Rocky Mountains, has political control over the rest of the nation. The Hunger Games are an annual event in which one boy and one girl (aged 12–18) from each of the twelve districts surrounding the Capitol are selected by lottery to compete in a televised battle to the death. This highly-engaging title has massive cross-over appeal and is a great read for teens and adults alike.

We hope you’ll enjoy this community-wide reading experience by checking out a copy and reading along!

If you’re interested in more dystopian titles, please check out this list of recommended read-likes which includes fiction and nonfiction for adults and teens, as well as children’s books.

Comments

do you guys think that the book is better than the movie.Because i would say that the movie is better.because you dont have to read abd also you acan eat pop,popcrn all of that stuff with out having to break your head reading and lozing were you were reading i have one more question do you guys have the movie or the book in the mid contenet of the public library located at raytown because that would be awesome i would probably be the first one to check out both the movie and the book but first i would look at the movie and than read the book by:MR.SWAGG EQUALS TO ??????????

The Hunger Games is so awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The movie and the book are GREAT. I'm not sure witch one is better.The moive is Blu-ray and DVD. I think that the movie was very good. I liked the endding. THEY NEED TO MAKE THE 2ND ONE,CATCHING FIRE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The Hunger Games is th best book and moive duo for the YEAR!!!! The top moive cirtics and book should awarad it.!!! It is the GREATEST entertanment EVER!!! I REALLY ENJOIED IT!!!!!! It is so AMAZING!!!!!!!! I liked tha the people who made it kept the moive to the book. Thank you so much!!!

I loved the Hunger Game Trilogy and I think the first book and the following two are excellent books to bring readers of all ages together. BUT, I would hope that in the future the committee selecting the book for United We Read would choose a book that over half the people in the reading area have not already read!

I really think that you’re on to something. One of the great shortfalls of the "one community, one book" programs is that there really aren't a lot of books that are appealing to an exceptionally wide audience. In fact, I’ve repeatedly said that once your community reads, “To Kill a Mockingbird” you’ve pretty well eliminated the most widely readable, interesting, and discussable book. Now what?

Another issue that you run into with some “one community, one book” programs is that librarians choose the book. While we may be in a good position to select a book, librarians tend to be a little more well-read than the average person. Consequently, when we choose a book that WE want to read, it may not necessarily be a broadly popular. A good choice may be a book that many librarians have read, but not as many people have read. But that isn’t as fun for the librarians on the committee. :-) I don’t think this happens with “United We Read.” But it does happen in some “one community, one book” programs.

My feeling is that the point of a “one community, one book” program is really the conversations that people have around the book. My suggestion is that we should try to radically redefine the program and try to figure out the conversation that we want to have. Then, we should select one adult fiction and one adult non-fiction title that focuses on that theme. In addition, we should target a book written for teens and one that is written for upper elementary school children that address that theme in an age appropriate way. Finally, and if at all possible, we should identify a picture book that touches on that theme, too. Imagine the conversation! All ages, all types of readers all talking about the same critical theme or social issue.

Most of the time the movies from series leave out the important stuff or put it in a different way. For instance like the series "Percy Jackson And The Olymipans The Lighting Theif ",When Percy fought the monitaur.In the book Percy fought the monitaur on half blood hill,in the movie Percy fought the monitauf in a forest,a hill not a forest full of trees !!!!Sorry ,I just want to know if the movie is just like the book.All I really have to say is the next time theres a movie on a series,directors please read the WHOLE book first......THANX!!!

i personally thaught that the movie was not that good at all compared to the book,the movie leaves out alought of the feeling that is involved in the book.the movie makes her look strong and upholding when in the book it explains her feelings toward having to look strong and upholding the key word is trys too LOOK STRONG when inside she very scared. so to sum all that up the movie dosnt include everything that is in the book so the movie is a little if i can say boring plus the book gives you all the info you need to peice the book together